Officials and athletes of the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation stand behind South Korean youth taekwondo practitioners holding a welcome sign and wave to the crowd gathered at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul after their arrival on June 23, 2017. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 23 (Korea Bizwire) – A group of North Korean taekwondo officials and athletes arrived in South Korea on Friday for soon-to-be historic performances at the world championships.
Amid much fanfare at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) delegation of 36, led by its president Ri Yong-son, arrived south of the tense border via Beijing. Of those 36, 32 are North Koreans. Their flight was delayed by more than an hour due to inclement weather.
Officials and athletes of the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation arrive at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on June 23, 2017, on the eve of their performance during the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Federation’s World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, North Jeolla Province. (Image: Yonhap)
Officials from both the WTF and the ITF have expressed hopes that the ITF’s trip will help ease tensions in the region.
Chang Ung, a North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee, speaks to reporters at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on June 23, 2017. Chang arrived in South Korea with a delegation from the International Taekwondo Federation ahead of the World Taekwondo Federation’s World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. (Image: Yonhap)
In April, the South Korean women’s football team faced North Korea in Pyongyang, while the North Korean women’s hockey team played South Korea in Gangneung, some 230 kilometers east of Seoul.
(Yonhap)
